Thank You for Your Understanding

One Etsy Seller had her shop closed due to non-payment of her account while she was dealing with the death of her mother. Upon return to her shop, she found it closed, paid her bill, and received a response saying her shop would be reopened. It was not, so she contacted Etsy support. Not once. Not twice. But three times. But, surprise, surprise. No response.

She posted to the Bugs forum, obviously in frustration, asking for advice on what else she could do to get her shop reopened. A day later, an Administrator pops in to close down the thread (emphasis added):

I’m going to bring this thread to a close, because this is not a bug. My condolences for your loss:( We will be in touch via the emails you sent. Thank you for your understanding.

If this was not a bug, then this seller was purposely ignored until she came to the forum for help. And you expect understanding for this??

I find it very hard to understand why customer support is not available when a customer needs support. I find it very hard to understand why customer support is not available 24/7 on a site that operates 24/7, considering others’ livelihoods are at stake. I find it very hard to understand why Etsy doesn’t put customer support at the top of the priority list: what could be more important than your customers??

Oh, yea. The bottom line. To offer real support would be costly, and would cut into the profits. Can’t have that now, can we?

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7 thoughts on “Thank You for Your Understanding”

That’s what all of those wonderfully helpful sellers in the forums are for. Cheap free labor. That is until we say something they don’t like or say something in a way they don’t like it. No need to create 24/7 support when nice sellers will come in and help the lost and misguided. It never ceases to amaze me how much tenure these sellers have to be speaking with such authority. Some have opened their shop just last month! Obviously old timers don’t have time for this bullshit. I know I don’t.

I can’t remember which site it is now, but there is a directory rating online businesses via a star system and, after the changes to the Feedback system, Etsy sellers flocked there giving Etsy horrible ratings for customer service and a whole lot of other things, and their star rating was brought down to, like, a 2 last time I looked.

The bottom line is obviously Etsy’s priority. Ever since Chad Dickerson became CEO the only shops that count are those who sell in the thousands. Now if one of those shops had a death in the family you can bet your bottom dollar Etsy would bend over backwards for them. Especially if they’re from a country that is one of Etsy’s investors. We’re all aware of the special treatment they get – front page, first in searches, promotions in emails, etc. The handmade shops can go to hell in a hand basket for all they care.

If Etsy doesn’t have enough employees to handle their customer’s support emails maybe they need to do some hiring. How many emails do we get each day, how many emails can an employee field on average, do we have enough employees to take care of our customers? Etsy, your customers are the sellers, by the way.

Unfortunately, I don’t think understaffing is the problem. I picture employees throwing nerf balls around, rubbing stuffed owls, knitting 3-arm sweaters, looking for something to paste a moustache on or surfing the internet to find the latest hipster trend to feature in their promo emails or browse pages. What I don’t picture are people sitting at their desks actually working for 8 hours a day with an hour for lunch and two 10-minute breaks.

I’m surprised the thread wasn’t completely deleted, as Etsy is known to do that when they want to hide something egregious.